


Brave Princess

by lexapride



Category: Bellarke Collections, The 100 (TV)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4850090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexapride/pseuds/lexapride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin has been best friends with Bellamy Blake since she was six and he was eight. She's been in love with him since she realized what love is. After staying quiet for so long and dealing with all the problems life has dealt her she's finally in a good enough place that she's going to tell him without any reservations. Will he have the same feelings for her as she does for him? Or will he lose his shot to tell her how he really feels?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brave Princess

Clarke took a deep breath going over what she was going to say in her mind.

"You sure about this Clarke?" Raven asked the small but beautiful blonde in front of her. She nodded to the older woman furiously. "I mean, I know I've already asked you fifty times today, but this'll change everything."

"No, it won't." Clarke told her insistently turning to face the gorgeous dark-haired Latina. "I mean, I know for a fact that he does not feel the same way about me as I do him. And because he's my best friend, it won't be awkward."

"Except for _you_." Raven said and Clarke shook her head.

"Not for me, because even if he goes out on a hundred dates or gets a real girlfriend - though he hasn't had anyone like Echo in over a year - it won't matter because as long as I have him in my life, that'll be enough for me.

"This is a huge risk, Clarke, but," her brown eyes zero in on Clarke's nervous blue ones. "I'm proud of you."

At that Clarke beams up at Raven. "Thanks."

Raven takes Clarke's purse and shopping bags from her, before turning her around and shoving her towards the group in front of them. "Alright, go get him."

Bellamy is sitting on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the mall, flirting with Roma while his sister, Octavia and her boyfriend, Lincoln, and their friends Miller, Monty, Jasper, Maya, and Wick are all talking with each other.

Octavia sees Clarke approach at a fast pace with Raven right on her heels looking dubiously after her and waves at the two. "Hey guys! where were you?"

Raven stands next to Octavia watching Clarke walk past all of them and plant herself in front of Bellamy and Roma.

"Hey guys!" Clarke starts, her voice high and breathy as they both start a bit from her sudden interruption. Roma looks her over a little confused but smiles nonetheless.

"Hey, Clarke." Bellamy, in all his messy curls and olive complexion and ripped muscles and warm chocolate-colored eyes, smiles slowly at her.

"Yeah, hi." Roma says before turning back to Bellamy.

"Hey Roma, can I borrow him for a minute?"

The taller woman frowns down at her for a moment before nodding her head. "Uh-"

"Can it wait, Clarke?" Bellamy asks with just a hint of irritation in his voice and she shakes her head.

"No."

"Clarke-"

"Look, Bellamy, you're gonna stand there and I'm gonna talk and you're not gonna say anything or interrupt me, otherwise I'll never get through this and get it off my chest and at this point I don't care if Roma's here for it or not. I just need to tell you this once and then I'll never bring it up again. I swear." Clarke bursts out and everyone standing within ten feet of them stops their idle chatter to stare at them. Even a few random slow pedestrians stop up short to turn and look at the strange loud young woman. 

Bellamy shifts uneasily on his feet before finally smiling apologetically to Roma who just looks amused by the whole situation. "Sorry," he tells her and she nods.

"It's okay." She smiles and then actually winks at Clarke, who looks taken aback a bit at the taller model-beautiful girl.

"Aright Clarke, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about." Bellamy asks crossing his arms as he humors his best friend.

"Okay. Alright. Got it. Okay."

"Clarke."

"Right."

She shakes her head a bit and then takes a deep breath.

"Look, I know this might be a bit awkward for you, but you've been my best friend forever and I never knew exactly how to bring it up to you and I thought maybe if I actually just told you the truth, it might go away. But to be honest I don't see that happening any time soon. And if I cut you out of my life just to get rid of it, that'll hurt more than if I did tell you the truth and you didn't feel the same way. So I thought I might just, see what happens."

"Clarke, what are you talking about?" Bellamy asks a little confused and a bit concerned, seeing as how he'd never seen her this nervous and nearly this chatty.

"Bell, you're my best friend. You've been there for me through everything that happened with Wells and my dad and even Finn and all that goddamn drama with Lexa. You've seen me at my worst and my best and you've always had my back and I've always done the same for you. I know our lives are completely different and despite that we've stuck together through everything and I'm a little worried that once I say this you'll try to cut me out of your life."

"Clarke, I would never do that you." Bellamy says sincerely, now genuinely worried.

"Stop interrupting me! This is my speech and you're ruining it." Clarke pouts a bit and he can't help but smile at her.

"Sorry." He says schooling his features into a serious expression. "Please continue."

At this point Clarke is beaming at his attempts to comfort and listen to her at the same time.

"What is she doing?" Jasper asks the other three boys who each shrug but a look of understanding is beginning to cross Maya's face and Octavia is outright grinning, by now.

"Is she doing what I think she's doing?" She mutters to Raven, who nods nervously at her, clutching Wick's arm within both of her hands tightly, her nails digging into his skin til he's gritting his teeth. He looks down at her worriedly.

"You okay?" He asks her quietly and she nods her head tensely as Octavia squeals softly.

"O, don't ruin this for her." Lincoln whispers in her ear.

"Oh. My. God!" Octavia breathes. The others turn to her and crowd her with muffled questions.

Bellamy glances over curiously but Clarke reaches out and grabs his shoulder with one hand and his chin with her other, turning it so he focuses on her.

"Bell, I'm right here."

"I'm just-"

"I'm in love with you, okay?" The words tumble from her lips in a rush and he freezes.

"What?"

"I'm in love with you, Bellamy Blake. I know it's not what you expected to hear because we've been fighting ever since we met when we were six and eight, but I've always enjoyed our fights because you challenge me, to be better, to do better, and I love that. I love that you're the first person who taught me to ride my bike and that you're the first person to help me pass my history classes in middle and high school and even through my general civ classes. I love that you're grumpy in the morning and grudgingly a nice person who cares too much about everyone and everything. I love that you voice your opinions when you think you're right and I get to prove you wrong - at least most of the time."

She takes a breath, smiling, noting his motionless face and continues readily.

"I love that you were a bit of a frustrated delinquent as a teenager but sold your motorcycle to help your mom out with the bills. I love that you took on the responsibilities of a parent for Octavia when your mom died and even though you struggled, were so caring enough to put her first for everything and take care of her. I love that you're the best big brother to O, if albeit too protective. I love that even before you became O's guardian you've always had the dad-complex of our group. I love that even though you were an officer for only two years and made detective after another six months because you wanted to serve and protect, you willingly gave it up to go back to school and get your PhD to teach history because it's what you really love to do. I love that you get excited when you read a new historic research paper, and I love that you let me fall asleep on you whenever we watch those damn documentaries and boring movies and tv shows on Netflix. I love that you curse at your computer every time a new update pops up and you have to learn how to use the different programs all over again from Jasper."

She pauses for a breath, seeing his still expressionless face but keeps going.

"I particularly love that you're the only person who knows exactly how to make me laugh when I've had an awful day, and how to distract me when I can't study anymore or I'll fall over. I love that you supported me when I still wanted to be a doctor after everything that happened with my dad. And I love that you supported me when I was miserable at that hospital and went back to school for art. And I love that you convinced me to send in my work to that gallery and was there when I got the call that they wanted to do a showing. And I love that you've been to every one since. I love that you don't mind me taking up your apartment with my painting for the lighting through your window or when I'm stuck and you bring out the inner rebel to break me out of my funk. Or that even after being a cop and a detective you don't mind being reverting back to being a delinquent when we need to knock down some asshole a peg or two by pranking him."

At this point Clarke can't help speeding up as she talks because Bellamy still hasn't moved a muscle and her nerves and the terror that she's screwing this up is finally catching up to her.

"And I love that you know when to calm me down after a really awful fight with my mother. And I love you know when I just need peace and quiet and I love you know when I need to get hammered and forget everything after a bad day with a patient and . . . I just, I love you. I'm in love with you." Clarke finishes, still managing to sigh her last five words happily.

She takes in his dumbfounded expression and fights the instinct to immediately backpedal, her heart sinking with every elongated second as she waits for some kind of reaction from him. After a long moment she finally sighs sadly.

"Look, you don't have to do anything. You don't even have to say anything. I just had to tell you this once so we can both move on, because it's been killing me that I've been a coward with my feelings for so long and I know that eventually I'll get over it, but I felt like you deserved to know because we've always been honest with each other, even if it's not what either of us want to hear. Bell, look at me."

She squeezes his shoulder a bit and lifts his chin, so his dazed eyes - even though they were already staring at her - meet her own. His mouth is open in the shape of an o and his hair hangs floppily over his forehead, covering that one scar that he got from that bar fight he broke up. His eyes light up a bit at meeting hers and she lets out some air, knowing he's at least really listening to her now.

"I'm sorry for just springing this out of the blue on you, but I needed to say this. I'm going to walk away now, because I'm tired and it's been a long day with meeting Octavia's shopping demands."

"Hey-mff!" Lincoln effectively covers her mouth with his hand, trying to preserve her brother and her best friend's moment.

"I'll bring Roma over and you can go back to flirting with her. I'm sorry that I interrupted that. She's really hot and I'm pretty sure I'd totally have sex with her if I wasn't already in love with you."

Neither Raven or Wick can help rolling their eyes at that one. Give it to Clarke to declare her love for someone and then apologize to them for interrupting their pick up lines on a separate person yet still managing to compliment everyone in the equation. Miller and Monty meet each other's amused gazes trying hard not to laugh as Maya does the same, keeping her own hand over a hyperventilating Jasper.

Roma, who'd been watching the entire thing unfold before her eyes off to the side, can't help the short barking laugh that emerges and it seems to bring Bellamy further out of his stupor as his head swivels around stupidly to find the sound.

"If I actually swung that way, I would totally have sex with you too, Clarke." Roma winks at her and Clarke feels a smile taking over again.

A few of the older pedestrians chuckle at the scene in front of them, while the mothers cover their children's ears, still amused at the situation enough to stay and watch.

"But be honest with me, you'd pick Raven first, right?" Again Roma barks out a laugh and Bellamy starts to shake his head out of the daze he's been in.

"Totally." Roma grins and steps forward hugging Clarke tightly. "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do, Clarke." She whispers in her ear and sits down next to Bellamy on the edge of the fountain. Clarke beams down at the older woman and begins to turn away then stops, a thought occurring to her.

"Just don't ignore me, Bellamy. Don't stop seeing me just because you feel awkward. Even though I dropped this on you, don't cut me out of your life. I can handle the rejection, I can handle you and your one-night stands or even another girlfriend. But I can't handle you not being in my life."

Clarke turns away, her friends creating a path and Raven walks up, handing over her purse and purchases, knowing that she wants to go home and detox from her speech. Clarke sees the small crowd she drew with her loud voice carrying in the vast expanse space surrounding the fountain and gives them all a nervous smile.

She gets about five more feet, before finally - _finally_ \- he finds his voice.

"How long?" She stops in her tracks at the low rough husky tone, not allowing herself to turn at his voice and trying hard to stamp down on the hope that begins to bloom at his words.

"I don't know. Forever."

"Clarke." His voice is pleading and desperate and she closes her eyes, trying hard to resist turning around. She succeed,s but barely.

"Since I was fifteen and confused about Wells' feelings for me. I convinced you to teach me how to kiss so I could do it to him and figure out if I felt the same way. Instead I realized I was already in love with you."

"WHAT?!" Octavia's record-breaking high-pitch shriek echoed loudly off the tall ceiling and high windows, and everyone in the surrounding stores and even above on the upper floor stopped in their tracks. Clarke winced at that, but still didn't turn around to scold the younger girl. Raven did that instead.

"O, shut up!" The older girl whispered.

"But, they never told-" Lincoln slid his hand up again, covering his girlfriend's mouth once more.

"Why didn't you ever say anything before?" Bellamy asked and Clarke sighed finally turning around, but looking everywhere except him.

"Because, first, you were always Octavia's older brother and I knew I was never allowed to cross that line. Second, because even though I was your best friend first, I was Octavia's best friend too and I didn't ever want put either of you in the position that you'd have to choose one or the other because I know your family always comes first. I couldn't lose either of your friendships just because of my feelings - which I was sure at the time was just a crush. And third, you were older, more experienced and had never ever showed any modicum of interest before."

"That's not true and you know it." Her eyes connected with his, drinking in the intensity of his gaze with a tiny gasp. Neither of them noticed the confused expressions of their friends. "Harper's wedding, the elevator ride." Clarke looked startled at him.

"You were drunk! And you acted like nothing had happened the next day. I thought you'd forgotten!"

"Ahmnf!" Lincoln tightened his hold on his girlfriend's mouth as she scrabbled her own hands over his massive one, digging in her nails til he gritted his teeth, refusing to allow her to ruin this moment for them, even though his other friends were gaping openly at the two in front of them, finally breaking down into heated whispers.

"I did!" Bellamy finally admitted abashedly. "But I ran into Monroe after the brunch."

"Oh!" Clarke looked at her feet, holding onto her purse and shopping bags tightly.

"Everything kinda came back in a haze, but I remember everything that happened in that elevator. But when I talked to you before the ceremony you acted like nothing had happened."

"I think it's been firmly established in the twenty-two years I've known you, that you're an idiot."

"Fair enough." He says with a tiny smile on his face and the smile warms Clarke inside and out, but she still can't read the emotion in his eyes and gives a little strangled growl.

"Argh! Stop it, Bellamy!" He looks surprised.

"Stop what?"

"Stop looking at me like that! It's the first time I can't actually read you and it's driving me crazy! So unless you're going to do something with what I've given you, then just stop it!"

"Clarke-"

"No Bellamy! I refuse for this to be awkward between us. I told you how I felt, now it's up to you where this goes next. You either have feelings for me that extend past our friendship or you don't. If you not then that's okay. I'm perfectly fine with that. I won't ever get in the way of your future endeavors and I will eventually get over this, one way or another. And if you do have feelings for me, then take the rest of today, tomorrow, or hell, the rest of the week to figure out just how deep your feelings run.  _Then_ come talk to me. We can move forward from there. But right now, I'm done. The ball's in your court now."

Clarke finished and turned back on her heel and started walking away again. She took a deep breath as she walked, keeping her grip on her things tight as she told herself not to look back. She was so intent on repeating her mantra of _don't look back, don't look back_  to herself that she didn't realize Bellamy had broken through their group of friends and run after her. She barely registered the hurried heavy footsteps echoing on the tile behind her before hands gripped her arms and spun her around.

She didn't have any time to think before his lips were on hers. They were soft against hers but still felt a little rushed as he gave her short but intoxicating kisses til her things dropped to the ground at her feet and she was hanging onto his shoulders for dear life, completely lost in the electricity that was running through her at his tender touches up and down her back. His tongue teasing her bottom lip til she opened for him and then sucked it into his own mouth prompting a soft moan from her.

She finally broke away for a breath, finally seeming to tune into the cheers and cat-calling from their audience and friends as she tried to regain the use of her brain.

"So, I'm guessing-"

"I love you, Clarke Griffin. I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you since I was scaring away John Murphy from trying to corner you underneath the bleachers after homecoming your sophomore year."

She giggled into his neck as he kissed her temple, still moving his lips all over her face.

"So, do you want to go out with me tonight?" He breathed into her ear and she fought a shiver, realizing in the same moment, she didn't have to for him to know how much it turned her on.

"I don't know. At the rate  _our_ relationship has progressed, we're gonna have to wait another eleven years just to be able to go on our first date." He leaned in capturing her lips into another hot arousing kiss til she was chasing his lips when he finally broke it.

"I think I can convince you, my brave princess." He said smugly, resting his forehead against hers.

She grinned up at him perfectly content in the moment as their friends surrounded them, happily teasing them and hugging the stubborn couple.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Wick was whining in Raven's ear as he hugged her from behind.

"Hey, she's my best friend! She made me promise not to tell anyone!"

"I can't believe you never told me Bell was your first kiss!" Octavia pouted, furious with the two in front of her.

" _I_ can't believe how sharp your nails are." Lincoln complained looking at the perfect crescent moon indentations on his hand.

"I can't believe how long Jasper's been waiting for you guys to get together and he nearly had a panic attack over your little scene." Maya said, still holding Jasper in her arms as he breathed evenly but deeply.

"We were always rooting for you guys though. I mean you guys are totally perfect for each other." Miller admitted.

"The perfect mom and dad of our group anyways." Monty teased.

Bellamy tightened his grip on Clarke in his arms, keeping her face pressed into his chest as she flushed deeply, having a delayed reaction to just how public of a scene she'd made.

"I love you." She murmured into his purple Hanes v-neck and beamed over her head, hearing her soft voice amongst the chatter around her.

"I love you, too." He whispered into her hair and she burrowed further into his embrace.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this scene in my mind for so long where she just kind of lays out exactly how she feels and says something like, "God that feels so good to get off my chest," and then basically just goes back to what she was doing and he's just kind of standing there completely shocked before he actually reacts.
> 
> I originally kind of wanted this to be the regular Dropship Camp version but like sort of a happy feel, where she just walks up to him in the middle of the day in front of everybody and just sort of drops this bombshell. I might add a chapter later of that version. Comment and let me know if you want me to do that version. :D


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